Chamber poll: Ferlita leads in mayoral race

Posted Mar 8, 2011 by TBO.com

Updated Mar 8, 2011 at 06:12 PM

Rose Ferlita leads Bob Buckhorn in the race for Tampa mayor, according to a poll conducted for the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

In a survey of 300 registered voters who are likely to vote in the March 22 runoff, Ferlita, a former Hillsborough County Commisioner and City Council member, leads Buckhorn, himself a former City Council member, 43 percent to 33 percent, according to Hamilton Campaigns, which conducted the poll for the chamber. There’s a 5.7 percentage point margin of error.

The poll, conducted March 2-6, shows 24 percent still undecided in the race.

Support for Ferlita is coming from white and Hispanic voters, according to the poll, while Buckhorn leads among black voters.

“While the Chamber does not endorse political candidates, we felt it was important to gauge the pulse of the community on the hot political issues of the moment, “ Bob Rohrlack, president and CEO of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, said in a press release.

“This poll represents a snapshot in time and we encourage the candidates to learn from the information and use it to strengthen their campaigns.” 

Early voting starts Saturday.

The poll also showed that outgoing Mayor Pam Iorio, who is giving her last State of the City speech tomorrow, has a high job approval rating—87 percent of city and county voters (a second survey was conducted of 400 registered Hillsborough County voters who are likely to vote in the November 2012 general election, with a 4.9 percentage point margin of error).

Read more about the results here.